1. Field of the Invention
Gymnastic devices
2. Description of the Peior Art
Occasionally a descriptive term in this application may be shortened so as to recite only a part rather than the entirety thereof as a matter of convenience or to avoid needless redundancy. In instances in which that is done, applicant intends that the same meaning be afforded each manner of expression. Thus, the term bilateral exercise tension director (319) might be used in one instance but in another, if meaning is otherwise clear from context, expression might be shortened to bilateral tension director (319) or merely bilateral director (319). Any of those forms is intended to convey the same meaning.
The term emplace or any of its forms when used in this application means the joining of two objects or parts so as to unite them in a reasonably easily removable way, such as the fitting of a length of elastic exercise cord (27) within a pulley wheel's circumferential groove (36) from which it (27) may be removed, discussed ante.
Where the term is employed, rigid emplacement connotes the meaning that the object is removable but only with some degree of difficulty, such as might be encountered in separating two parts--for example, an aperture engaging pin (15) from a channel spine latching aperture (303) in which it (15) is held in position by expansion of a spring (16). The word emplace is also consistent in meaning with the word "detachable" as occasionally used in connection parlance but not in this application, since it is derived from the root attach. The term attach or fasten or any of their forms when so used means that the juncture is of a more or less permanent nature, such as might be accomplished by nails, screws, welds or adhesives. Employment of the words connect or join or any of their forms is intended to include the meaning of both in a more general way.
The word comprise may be construed in either of two ways herein. A generic term used to describe a given one of a number of specific elements is said to comprise it, thereby characterizing the specific element with equivalency for the generic term. Thus, a bilateral exercise tension director (319) may be said to comprise a vertically disposed tethering hook (419), meaning that in the particular case, the bilateral tension director (319) is a tethering hook (419). However, the word comprise may also be used to describe a feature which is part of the structure or composition of a given element. Thus, a horizontally emplaced anchoring pin (305) may be said to comprise an emplacement groove (412), meaning that the structure of the pin (305) is such as to have the emplacement groove (412) as a feature of its structure. The meaning in the respective cases is clear from context, however. Accordingly, modifying words to clarify which of the two uses is the intended one seem unnecessary.
The word multiply or any of its derivatives is also employed in two different ways, either as a verb or an adjective. Thus, it is explained herein that the number of tethering point (300) arrangements is multiplied by reason of the number of axes of rotation a pulley assembly (519) comprises--the verb sense, in that the assembly's diversity permits an operator (200) to multiply the number of setups he or she elects to exercise from. Used as an adjective, however, it is said herein that a multiply elbowed door connection bracket (52) comprises door edge wrapping configuration (54)--meaning merely that it (52) is shaped with a number of elbows exceeding that of an alternative embodiment.
There is a distinct difference between exercising assemblies which employ weights attached to inelastic cords (27) strung through a pulley and those which employ a length of elastic cord (27) tethered from a given point. As an operator (200) pulls upon an inelastic cord (27) to which a weight is attached, sufficient initial effort must be expended to overcome the weight's resting inertia. As the effort continues and the weight gathers momentum, less effort is required. Even after the effort is terminated, the weight continues for a short distance in its path, reaches maximum height and then begins to fall, pulling the cord (27) with it, in response to gravity. It is sometimes said to have "gone ballistic".
The tension exerted upon an elastic cord (27) as it is stretched, increases beginning from its initial state of rest completely up to the point of maximum effort. The cord (27) immediately begins retracting upon reversing the effort. Many consider the acceleration gradient imposed by an elastic cord (27) to be highly beneficial.
Weights also have other disadvantages such as the noise they create during use, the necessity to store them to avoid clutter and the inconvenience of having to change them for one's different exercises or accommodate an additional exercising operator. Employing proper equipment, elastic cords (27) of lesser or greater resistance and strung upon a tethered exercise tension system may be easily changed, or alternatively, left in place by a first operator (200) without interfering with the efforts of a second one (200) who uses an independently tethered cord (27) of different resistance.
Elastic cord (27) assemblies have traditionally been attached to a wall (106) to provide what are referred to herein as exercise tethering points (300). However, many people have limited wall (106) space available for such installation. The bulky character of the traditional exercise assemblies and the want of sufficient installation space for them have led to portable models which provide for various isometric or isotonic exercises. While portability avoids installation problems and enables use away from home, many feel there is no real substitute for an anchoring vertical surface mounted construction.
There has been a growing interest in tethering exercise equipment to a less obtrusive locale such as upon a household door (100) during a time it is not otherwise required for ingress and egress.
Assemblies intended for doorway (103) use have taken a variety of forms. Some have been anchored upon the doorway's (103) encircling woodwork. That portion of an assembly which might otherwise interfere with those passing through it should be easily removable after exercise.
Some of the portable models, supra, have been configured with door (100) blockers or similar obstructions usually taking the form of thickened straps which are fitted through the margin or crack around the door's (100) perimeter such that they don't pull through when exercise tension is operably applied. Those models are referred to herein as comprising door stop or door impingement features, ante. As useful as those assemblies are, their tethering source is necessarily limited to the doorway's (103) perimeter. Efforts to provide for more centralized exercise tethering have contributed to development of door face (101) installation assemblies.
An assembly mounted upon the face (101) of a door (100) should be constructed so as not to damage it (100). Bolts driven into or through the door (100) leave unsightly holes when the assembly is removed. Some of the portable exercisers, supra, provide secure tethering with devices shaped to fit around the edge (102) of a closed door (100) at the top or bottom thereof (100). Those models are referred to herein as comprising door edge wrapping configurations. Some of the devices comprise a nonpenetrating bolt and plate to enhance security. Others are constructed for such purpose in a manner to insure that the fit is snug.
Once a vertical supporting spine has been erected, means for dividing the tension to both the right and left sides may be emplaced upon it. Such means usually comprise either a vertically disposed rod segment, hook, eyelet or pulley assembly disposed at the tethering point (300). On a traditional assembly upon which pulleys are employed, they are often connected at a fixed site from a hook or ring. They should be configured to permit positioning at a desired height before exercise is undertaken so as to quickly and easily provide selected tethering points (300). They should also be configured to provide a sufficient number of pivot sites to allow rapid variations in tension and orientation without impeding their operation. Thus, the tension dividing means, whatever form it may comprise should be configured so that it can be emplaced upon an overhead projection rather than merely connected to a wall or other supporting structure.
Where a pulley system is employed, the means by which it is connected should comprise shape which permits it to pivot vertically upon its connection point when subjected to various exercise tensions. It should comprise capability to allow the pulley wheel to spin in response to forces imposed upon it by the elastic cord (27) without allowing the cord itself to become twisted and should, therefore, comprise numerous axes of rotation.
A pulley assembly should also be configured to permit quick and easy emplacement of the elastic cord (27) upon a pulley wheel without risk of the cord's (27) dislodgement from the assembly.
Means for height adjustments should comprise pin latching mechanisms operable with minimum effort. Certain features of pin and aperture connections along a vertical spine occasionally employed in the past might still be useful if additionally provided with quick release features combined with firm channel locking capability to prevent accidental dislodgement.
An assembly should also comprise sufficient versatility by reason of interchangeability of its parts to permit mounting at either of the preferred locales mentioned supra--that is, upon the wall (106) or upon a door's face (101)--and yet allow for exercise away from home with those parts thereof which lend themselves to portability, such as the elastic cords (27), handgrips (28) and any door impingement devices available as accessories.
U.S. Pat. No. 232,579 issued to Weeks features an early wall (106) tethered exercise assembly, comprising handgrips as operator manipulators, pulleys and lengths of both elastic and inelastic cords (27). U.S. Pat. No. 1,112,114 issued to Caines also comprises a relatively early wall anchored elastic cord (27) system. A subsequent such assembly is featured in U.S. Pat. No. 1,965,511 issued to Preston. U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,617 issued to Rattray, Jr. represents a more recent wall (106) tethered exercise assembly wherein several elastic cords (27) are simultaneously employed. The assembly in U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,546 issued to Little invokes a wall (106) mounted framework of paired vertical spines comprising aperture engaging pins and spaced apertures disposed along the sides of the spines for tethering height adjustment by means of simple channel engagement pins secured with cotter pins, the assembly comprising handgrips, pulleys and elastic cords (27) as well.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,602 issued to Roberts also employs handgrips, pulleys and elastic cord (27) as do the foregoing. While the patent focuses upon door (100) stop or door (100) impingement tethering, instructions are included therein to mount a rigid framework comprising spaced apertures upon the walls (106) in the corner of a room, the apertures providing tethering points (300) for apparatus connecting links. U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,741 issued to Hermanson illustrates a special framework upon which several pulley wheels are mounted in a selected pattern which permits lengthening or shortening the elastic cord (27) to vary the tethering tension. U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,253 issued to Awbrey features an adjustable framework for underwater exercise also comprising spaced apertures, position adjusting brackets and simple pins secured by either cotter pins or nuts, although there is no specific reference to use of elastic cord (27).
Patents featuring elastic cord (27) assemblies but employing door (100) stop or door (100) impingement tethering include U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,867 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,677 both issued to Hinds, U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,059 issued to Rumney, U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,532 issued to Kropp and U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,064 issued to Holm. The Hinds U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,677 supra, provides for enhanced tethering security by looping the anchoring strap around the doorknob. A very early door impingement variation is illustrated by one of the embodiments of Bussey, discussed ante.
Patents employing door edge (102) enwrapment tethering include (Great Britain) G.B. Patent No. 27,611 issued to Bussey, G.B. Patent No. 16,404 issued to Wieland, U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,953 issued to Teetor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,437 issued to LoPresti, U.S. Pat. No. 4,109,907 issued to Zito, U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,510 issued to Lundell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,816 issued to Bernstein, U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,458 issued to Bizilia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,990 issued to Forster, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,629 issued to Plovie, U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,626 issued to Gallagher, U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,971 issued to Goldish, U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,518 issued to Flynn, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,445 issued to Christensen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,274 issued to Hunker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,643 issued to Fontaine and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 277,218 issued to Hinds. Almost all of these constructions include no exercise cord (27) and are suitable only for situps and other exercises of an isotonic character enhanced by bracing a part of the body. Only the Bussey, Wieland and Hunker patents of this category include a length of elastic cord. The LoPresti patent represents one in which opposing elbowed bracing pins comprise an enwrapment structure from which an exercise frame is projected. The Zito patent comprises inelastic cord (27) and weights. U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,677 issued to Viramontes is a chinning bar similar to the foregoing but provides for enwrapment over an exposed joist or garage door of an exposed joist, if available.
Caines and Preston, supra, are worthy of note among the early U.S. forerunners in this sector of interest. The same is true of the British works of Bussey and Wieland. While all employ elasticity as the exercise medium, none comprises a one-piece elastic free running cord such as would be integrated into a wheel and pulley system. While the Bussey device appears at first glance to incorporate a single cord which might be capable of sliding and stretching freely throughout its length, it in fact comprises "cords" attached at their "fast" ends. Even the single cord of Caines is secured at what might otherwise be interpreted as a free-sliding segment thereof. The cord (27) of the more recent Little assembly is similarly attached. While the notion that elasticity could be successfully incorporated in conjunction with one or more wheels or similar pulley devices had long before been demonstrated by Weeks, more extensive development along those lines remained for others including Roberts and Hermanson, supra.
Employing a single running cord (27) provides greater length through which its stretching occurs and, therefore, requires less exercise space within a given room for the same amount of cord stretch (27). Aside from valuable space conservation, this feature facilitates exercise of an aerobic-like character, since greater movement results from a given length of cord stretch (27) than is the case with shorter cords. Those who train seriously understand well the benefits of left and right body-sided reciprocation in which the torso is urged to twist in response to a system's free-running elastic restraints. Attachment of shorter elastic cords (27), of course, also introduces an incidental safety concern in that they could become dislodged from their fastening sites.
Beyond the early beginnings exhibited by Weeks, Caines, Preston, Bussey and Wieland, the task remained of constructing a sophisticated system wherein the midportion of a single cord is quickly strung upon pulley wheels emplaced upon an easily adjusted framework optionally mounted upon a household door.
Patents featuring spring loaded pin latches include U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,422 issued to Gulistan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,911 issued to Carboud, U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,136 issued to Bills and U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,221 issued to Wehner. While the spring of the Gulistan assembly is biased outwards, it operates upon the same principal as the inwardly biased ones. Biasing orientation is controlled by the location of the shoulder against which the spring is retracted and the shoulder in this device is merely reversed from that of an inwardly biased spring. The Gulistan pin is retained in nonretracted disposition by interthreading of parts.
An exercise assembly should at least incorporate many of the best features of the cited constructions. As many as there are, however, none of them provide the totality of the modern athlete's requirements. An assembly should, therefore, comprise improved pulley systems and easily operable latching mechanisms. In summary, the needs or objectives pointed out supra thus far remain only partly addressed in the prior art and some have not been met at all.